Saudi Gazette report JEDDAH — A recent report by the ministries of commerce and labor has revealed that 60 percent of commercial registrations that are now subject to rectification are owned by women who are not actually practicing trade, but their businesses are run under what is known as Tasattur (cover-up) by male relatives, Al-Watan newspaper reported. Most of these men are government employees who are not eligible to obtain commercial registrations. Sometimes they are run by expatriate workers in violation of residency and labor regulations. According to Al-Watan, the data in the report was derived from the Hafiz program, which drops the name of every woman who possesses a commercial registration, apart from the current rectification programs that are being implemented by the labor offices in the Kingdom's regions and governorates. The sources expect the number of these commercial registrations to decrease greatly after the amnesty period expires on Nov. 3. In a statement to Al-Watan, Abdullah Basahel, member of the General Offices Committee in Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI), said the majority of commercial registrations, whose status is being rectified at present through procedures for transfer of sponsorship and change of profession, belong to women and are run by their male relatives. This is through selling or renting the commercial registration in what is known as “Tasattur”, especially in the case of government employees who are not allowed to practice trade. He said, “Not everything that is being rectified at present are commercial registrations practicing cover-up (Tasattur), but the majority of these commercial registrations which are run through Tasattur belong to women, especially in professions that are known to be managed through men. It is difficult for women to run businesses in areas like contracting, building materials, other construction activities and retail trade, so male relatives are given documented authorization to run them on their behalf” Basahel said the response to the status rectification drive was still great, enven though it was less compared to the first grace period that was announced in April and ended on July 3.
